Zimbabwe has too many elephants, its environment minister says.
Zimbabwe to kill 200 elephants after months of drought left crops failing and food shortages. The country's wildlife authority said the move was also aimed at combating population growth.
The Guardian reports.
“Zimbabwe has more elephants than it needs,” Zimbabwe's Environment Minister Sithembisso Nyoni told parliament on Wednesday, September 11.
He added that the government had instructed the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) to begin the process of culling wild animals.
“We are in discussions with ZimParks and some communities to do what Namibia has done, so that we can cull elephants and mobilize women to possibly dry out meat, package it and make sure it goes to the communities that need the protein,” Nyoni told reporters.
In turn, ZimParks CEO Fulton Mangwanya said that elephants will be hunted in areas where their usual grazing grounds are close to human settlements, including in Zimbabwe's largest nature reserve, Hwange.
Zimbabwe is home to about 100,000 elephants, the second largest population in the world after Botswana.
According to ZimParks, thanks to conservation efforts, 65,000 animals live in Hwange alone, more than four times its capacity. Zimbabwe last culled elephants in 1988.
Zimbabwe and Namibia are among a group of countries in southern Africa that have declared a state of emergency this year due to drought. The UN estimates that about 42% of Zimbabweans live in poverty, and authorities say about 6 million will need food aid during the November to March lean season, when food is most scarce.
Critics of killing elephants for food say the decision is irrational, as elephants are a major tourist attraction in Zimbabwe.
“The government needs to have more sustainable methods of dealing with drought that do not impact tourism. They are risking turning away tourists on ethical grounds. Live elephants are more profitable than dead ones. We have shown that we are poor stewards of natural resources and our appetite for ill-gotten wealth has no limits, so this must stop because it is unethical,” said Farai Maguwu, director of the non-profit Centre for the Protection of Elephants natural resource management”.
Recall that this month Namibia announced its intention to kill more than 700 wild animals to overcome famine and survive drought. Among the animals to be killed are 83 elephants.
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